Spartans Set for Winthrop Invite
9/14/2012 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katie Parker, kparker@uscupstate.edu
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's and women's cross country teams head to Rock Hill, S.C., Saturday to compete in the 26th annual adidas/Winthrop Invitational, which will be held on the Winthrop Farm course.
The Winthrop Invite will begin with the men's 8K at 9 a.m., followed by the women's 5k at 9:45 a.m. A total of 30 college and university team are scheduled to compete Saturday, including Southeast Regionally ranked Louisville, High Point and Liberty. The Louisville men are ranked No. 7 in the region, while High Point claimed the No. 12 spot. On the women's side, Liberty is 12th in the regional rankings and High Point sits 15th.
"The race is shaping up to be very competitive for both our men and women's teams," said Upstate associate head coach Carson Blackwelder. "It will be a great opportunity to get out and compete with some quality programs and see where we stack up."
This will be the second meet for the Spartans this season. They opened the 2012 campaign, hosting the annual Eye Opener Invitational Aug. 31, where the men's team posted a second-place finish and the women's team took fourth.
At the Eye Opener, the Upstate men had three runners in the top 10 as senior Gilbert Kemboi (Eldoret, Kenya) crossed the line well ahead of the pack with a first-place time of 25:31.48. Senior Davey Dennison (Carlisle, Pa.) finished fifth with a time of 26:39.64, while junior Ross Oden (Salisbury, N.C.) came in 27:05.68 to earn eighth-place.
Upstate sophomore Jasmine Polite (Goose Creek, S.C.) crossed the line first for the Spartan women at the Eye Opener, recording a time of 20:06.97 to claim 16th-place. Freshman Anastasia Kolesnitchenko (Boiling Springs, S.C.) came in 19th and freshman Ashleigh Torres (Roanoke, Va.) took 20th with times of 20:25.09 and 20:29.74, respectively.
"I'm excited to see our men and women get out and compete after a couple hard weeks of training," Blackwelder said.
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